Two people in the family have back-to-back December birthdays. Janet turned 71 on the 5th and Jamie turned 43 on the 6th (goodness, everybody is getting old!). Janet and Jamie celebrated together at Thanksgiving, because Jamie and family had to go to a wedding in Kentucky on his birthday.
We finally got our first snow, which in Colorado, is a big deal, especially if you are a skier. Since I'm a biker, I'm not as happy as the others. It was so cold after the first snow, that Bruce just used a broom to brush it away. But it was much warmer during the second round of snow, so Bruce got to use his new electric snow shovel. An "electric" shovel sounds weird, but it works really well, especially on skinny parts like the sidewalks, plus you don't have to pick up heavy shovelfuls of snow. The shovel just scoops them away.
I went on a field trip with the Senior Center to old Colorado City (the old part of Colorado Springs). First, we stopped at a German bakery. There were so many delicious things to choose from, but I picked a chocolate croissant and a poppy seed pretzel. The croissant was huge and loaded with chocolate bits inside - much better than the French version.
Then we had lunch at a German restaurant. I ordered the Weissbier and Käsespätzle (spätzle with Swiss cheese sauce). Delicious! We were getting ready to pay the check when the man next to me ordered a slice of Black Forest torte. It looked so good that I had to get one, too. Only I was so stuffed, I got it to-go. You can't go to a German restaurant if you are on a diet.
We had our neighborhood Santa Jamboree this weekend. My job was running the Elf Scavenger Hunt. Kids had to find the elf hidden in the Christmas tree, take a selfie, and then show it to me for a prize. Needless to say, I had one of the popular jobs. We also had tables set up for kids to write letter to Santa, eat cookies, drink cocoa, and take a photo with Santa and Mrs Claus.
That part only lasted an hour, and then Santa and Mrs Claus headed out in a horse-drawn carriage to ride around the neighborhood. Luckily, my duties were over, because it was cold outside. I need to go back to that German restaurant a few more times so I'll have padding like Santa.
